WRITING TIP: Tap into the big picture

Sometimes we can be so involved in our personal story—whether written or lived— that the rest of the universe is a distant memory. When you find yourself unpleasantly in the grip of your story—or feel stressed because of how significant every small decision feels—try reading this from Carl Sagan: “Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.”